For the sake of the live performing arts!
Originally posted Tuesday May 26th, 2020.
Join us as we take action today!
Nine weeks! Artists have waited nine weeks, during which time the Quebec government has been, to put it mildly, discreet while frankly, ultimately keeping complete silence. At press conferences, the performing arts were never mentioned. In terms of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), our intermediary with the government, we seem to be continually navigating between that same silence and opaqueness. For example - programs have just been suspended without the artists even being consulted. Our professional associations, including the Conseil québécois du théâtre (CQT), are scrambling to share and circulate recovery and rescue plans to the various authorities. But still we have not received any answers. The only concrete expression of support comes from our very raison d'être - the public. They are here and extant. They write to us every day to find out when our doors will open. Our relationship with them is not disconnected, and so it is within this context of not abandoning our major stakeholders that we demand our government provide us with a clear channel of communication, including an immediate meeting with the Ministry of Culture.
From the outset we understood of all of this. Emergency requirements were focused on other parts of society; hospitals, staff, equipment, seniors' residences, education and ultimately, the economy. So we remained silent, and the few times we spoke, it was to express our collective solidarity and compassion. Many of us put our talents to work voluntarily, including offering songs and music, dance, or a poem, etc., and the battle continued. Very quickly the CHSLDs were hard hit and the death counts continued to pour in as the contagion persisted in spreading throughout the community. Montreal was struck to its very core and is still reeling. Each one of us, just like everyone else, have parents in residences, children who cannot go to school, sick friends, and loved ones who are dying. We have been devastated and still are, and we're going to continue this way for a long time — we who sometimes even perform pieces that are over a thousand years old – we will not forget!
Out of decency we felt it was necessary to maintain our silence; the urgency of the situation demanded that. Certainly, many of us have experienced our own significant and personal artistic grief, which of course, is nothing in comparison to the mourning of those individuals who are lost to us. Nevertheless, years of work have been swept away by the deadly force of the pandemic - shows in progress, in rehearsal, in development - our programming, which has taken years to create has been destroyed by this tsunami.
However, quite quickly, some measures of deconfinement have been proposed for schools and businesses in the regions. We even had the hope of witnessing the reopening of primary school classes in Greater Montreal. We continue to prepare for the re-starting of many other key sectors of our society. But what about us? The artists! Be patient, artists, your turn is coming we are told.
At long last, May 22, 2020 arrived. An announcement for our community. Hallelujah! It might be sour grapes to note that the first announcement to the cultural community was made without the presence of the Prime Minister, even as good news was finally being revealed to our sector. The big announcement? Put two or three cameras on the corner of the stage and record a performance of sorts – that should do the trick for the time being. As for the rest – well there are drive-in movie theatres!
On-stage video recordings and blockbusters: this is Quebec's proposed cultural plan to the world of live entertainment last Friday!
We were stunned by this announcement. And the performing arts community is unanimous in making this statement! This press conference was received as an affront by each and every one of us. We feel that this government is not taking us at all seriously. We now have the sense that we will be told later when we can “amuse” the crowds again, but in the meantime, there are the CERB funds from Ottawa that we will have to be satisfied with, (but, at the present time, after four applications for this financial help, they run out). What will become of the artists later? No one knows, and nothing has been said about them.
We deserve more than these "non-announcements". We, the performers and designers, stage technicians and cultural workers, choreographers and directors, and audiences. We deserve more than an opportunity to videotape as of June 1st with five technicians. But what exactly are we talking about here? What kind of taping? And in front of whom? Is it understood that welcoming the public is not just a matter of profitability? That without its physical presence, its energy, its immediate and palpable participation, the performing arts have no meaning? That the actors, dancers, and musicians feed on this humanity who assemble to participate in this work and creation? That by simply broadcasting live performances on a screen, we the artists, are cut off from the direct and essential link with the public? That this “broadcast”, if it replaces appearances in front of spectators, puts us in front of emptiness, and of deep isolation which is already wreaking havoc within our populace? No, digital is not the panacea for the living arts.
Is it understood that a show takes more than a mere two weeks to put together? That we need to build a timetable together in order to provide alternative programming that makes sense? Yet, the educational community has been given this type of timetable, as well as modalities and resources, which are certainly capable of being improved upon, but nevertheless, there is a stated plan.
We contribute, many times far from the media spotlight, and without wavering, an affirmation to people. It is through the arts that the soul of a population is defined. It is in our spaces that the public forum is found. It is through the bodies of dancers and actors that our desire for freedom, elevation and surpassing is expressed. It is our artists who will continue communicate tragic times to future generations. We can bring comfort, yes, but also criticism, hindsight, and thought. We are an essential cog in the democratic life of the country. We are witnesses, opponents, subversives, free spirits, bringers of sadness, satirists, philosophers, poets, and conscientious objectors. We are the gadflies who relentlessly sting the social body: the sting does not always feel good, and it does not have the value of a vaccine, but it remains essential. Because without this sting, the process does not advance. What is the point of healing if we have nothing more to say to each other? What is the point of overcoming this scourge if it is to take refuge in consumption emptied of sense or beautiful meaning?
We are not asking for the moon, but merely a conversation, a visibility, and someone to listen to us. None of us profess to live in a bubble detached from the rest of society. We want to be acknowledged, that is all. Quebec's performing arts are a vast, complex and diverse milieu. Not everyone has the knowledge required to understand all its mechanisms and how it works, which is why we, the artists, ask to be consulted as professional experts. It is a question of being able to share our counsel with respect, share our methods, and share our experience in order to fight the collective battle that is currently taking place. We need to have a say in the future which we can all outline together. A vision of our world. An honest and uninhibited look. We need this now more than ever.
Meetings between heads of state and artists have taken place in many countries. In France, a petition of more than 40,000 signatories succeeded in mobilizing President Macron to pay attention to the cultural sector, prompting him to request the input of thirteen artists from live entertainment and cinema. Concrete measures were announced. Promises were made. And it is worth mentioning that a major situation identified by the artists was formulated in which they were speaking about reinvention, experimentation, elimination of old traditions, new technologies, increase of normality and a reshaping of the relationship with the public. It is worth noting that we have not waited for the current crisis to initiate these actions. Rather, we have actually been working on them for over twenty-five hundred years!
We urgently request a meeting with Culture Minister Nathalie Roy. Many of our demands are already being shared through our stimulus plans. It is important for us that these be heard. We note specifically amongst these the assurance that a social safety net will be put in place in order to protect countless artists for whom the CERB program has not been extended beyond the four requests in its current status. Support measures for young companies that cannot benefit from the wage subsidy. An evolving schedule for the opening of rehearsal halls and theatres. And above all a rescue plan that is clearly referenced in relation with this timetable.
Madam Minister, fear not. We are already working and will continue to work hard with Public Health on measures that will specify how to ensure physical distancing, where to put disinfectant gels, how many masks are needed, and how will we clean the seats and with what. But that will not be enough as these measures say nothing about our art. They say nothing about what artists want to do or what the public wants to participate in. Therefore, it is imperative that we take part in the decision-making process so that once again we can address our sisters, brothers, parents, children, seniors, and friends and also address our contemporaries. The crisis we are experiencing is catastrophic, but sadly, humanity has seen worse. Living art has withstood all the tragic chapters of history, yet has never been eradicated, despite the threats or efforts to eliminate it, as have been demonstrated in the form of dictatorships, or the results of destruction of war and even in the most devastating of epidemics. Not a single virus on this planet, as virulent as it is, will overcome the arts.
Yes, of course, we will follow the timetable proposed by Public Health, for which we guarantee our full backing and support. We just want to remind you that by keeping the venues closed, we are not just putting thousands of artists at risk, but we are collectively flying the flag of imagination at half-mast. In the performing arts, fiction and creation can only be deployed through gatherings and encounters. Until we can reopen our venues, we will not be able to project ourselves into another space and into a better world of the future.
We are hindering the ability to dream. And if we can't dream anymore, we'll never clamber out of this nightmare.
Olivier Kemeid, Author, director
In consultation with :
Sylvain Bélanger, Director
Martin Faucher, Director
Brigitte Haentjens, Director
Stéphanie Jasmin, Writer, director and video designer
Denis Marleau, Director, scenographer
Ginette Noiseux, Costume Designer
Claude Poissant, Director
Translated by Jane Needles, Arts Administrator, consultant and professor
With the support of the first 250 signatories :
Marie-Anne Alepin, actrice, metteure en scène; Quincy Armorer, actor, director; Lionel Arnould, concepteur vidéo; Sylvio Arriola, acteur, concepteur vidéo; Olivier Arteau, acteur, metteur en scène; Fred Auger, concepteur design sonore; Paule Baillargeon, actrice, réalisatrice, scénariste; Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, autrice, cinéaste; Angelo Barsetti, concepteur maquilleur; Marie-Josée Bastien, actrice, metteure en scène; Jérémie Battaglia, concepteur vidéo; Lucie Bazzo, conceptrice d'éclairages; Christine Beaulieu, actrice, autrice; Félix Beaulieu-Duchesneau, acteur, metteur en scène; Martine Beaulne, metteure en scène, actrice; Christian Bégin, acteur; Marc Béland, acteur; Nini Bélanger, metteure en scène; Eudore Belzile, acteur, metteur en scène; Charles Bender, acteur, metteur en scène; Amélie Bergeron, metteure en scène; Pierre Bernard, metteur en scène; Sarah Berthiaume, autrice, actrice; Olivier Bertrand, directeur artistique; Véronique Bertrand, scénographe; Marie-Louise Bibish Mumbu, autrice; Amy Blackmore, artistic director; Florence Blain Mbaye, actrice, musicienne; Jean-François Blanchard, acteur; Elsa Bolam, former director artistic; Céline Bonnier, actrice; Mario Borges, metteur en scène; Véronique Bossé, artistic director; Michel Marc Bouchard, auteur, scénariste; Simon Boudreault, acteur, auteur, metteur en scène; Dany Boudreault, acteur, auteur, metteur en scène; Catherine Bourgeois, autrice, metteure en scène, scénographe; André Brassard, metteur en scène, homme de théâtre; Marie Brassard, autrice, metteure en scène, actrice; Fanny Britt, autrice, traductrice; Éric Bruneau, acteur; Virginie Brunelle, chorégraphe; Linda Brunelle, conceptrice de costumes; Alexia Bürger, metteure en scène, autrice, actrice; Sophie Cadieux, actrice, metteure en scène; Anne-Marie Cadieux, actrice; Stéphanie Capistran-Lalonde, assistante à la mise en scène; Maxime Carbonneau, acteur, metteur en scène; Carol Cassistat, acteur, metteur en scène; France Castel, chanteuse, actrice; Lise Castonguay, actrice, metteure en scène; Catherine Chabot, autrice, actrice; Dominic Champagne, auteur, metteur en scène; Patrice Charbonneau-Brunelle, scénographe; Julie Charland, conceptrice de costumes; Normand Chaurette, auteur; Violette Chauveau, actrice; Micheline Chevrier, artistic director; Olivier Choinière, auteur, metteur en scène; Estelle Clareton, chorégraphe; Nathalie Claude, actrice; Guillaume Corbeil, auteur, scénariste; Michelle Corbeil, directrice artistique; Larissa Corriveau, actrice, cinéaste, réalisatrice; Sophie Corriveau, interprète, chorégraphe; René Richard Cyr, metteur en scène, acteur; Philippe Cyr, metteur en scène; Félix Dagenais, concepteur; Jean Marc Dalpé, auteur, acteur; Alison Darcy, artistic director; Laurence Dauphinais, actrice, autrice, metteure en scène; Louise de Beaumont, actrice; Danièle de Fontenay, directrice artistique; Evelyne de la Chenelière, autrice, actrice; Mélanie Demers, chorégraphe, interprète; Serge Denoncourt, metteur en scène; Rebecca Déraspe, autrice; Jean Derome, musicien; Nicolas Descoteaux, concepteur d'éclairages; Mireille Deyglun, actrice; Sébastien Dionne, concepteur de costumes; Sébastien Dodge, auteur, acteur, metteur en scène; Jasmine Dubé, autrice, actrice; Marcelle Dubois, autrice, metteure en scène; Frédéric Dubois, metteur en scène; Patrice Dubois, acteur, metteur en scène; Olivier Ducas, acteur, auteur; Francis Ducharme, acteur, danseur; Philippe Ducros, auteur, metteur en scène; Alix Dufresne, metteure en scène; Mélanie Dumont, dramaturge; Louise Dupré, autrice; Ève Duranceau, actrice; D.Kimm, directrice artistique; Elen Ewing, conceptrice de costumes; Michel F.Côté, musicien, compositeur; Romain Fabre, scénographe, concepteur de costumes; Marie-Hélène Falcon, directrice artistique, femme de théâtre; Max-Otto Fauteux, scénographe; Alexandre Fecteau, metteur en scène; Caroline Ferland, assistante à la mise en scène; Denise Filiatrault, metteure en scène, actrice; Dean Fleming, artistic director; Monique Forest, writer; Paul-André Fortier, chorégraphe; Marie-Thérèse Fortin, actrice, metteure en scène; Carole Fréchette, autrice; Linda Gaboriau, traductrice; Nathalie Gadouas, actrice; Geoffrey Gaquère, acteur, metteur en scène; Annette Garant, actrice; Maxim Gaudette, acteur; Jean Gaudreau, concepteur sonore; Sébastien Gauthier, metteur en scène; Marie-Hélène Gendreau, actrice, metteure en scène; Nicolas Gendron, acteur, metteur en scène; Marie Gignac, metteure en scène, actrice; Bernard Gilbert, auteur, programmateur; François Girard, cinéaste, metteur en scène; Denis Gougeon, compositeur; Antonin Gougeon, concepteur vidéo; Michel Goulet, sculpteur, scénographe; Marc Gourdeau, directeur artistique; Rachel Graton, actrice, autrice; Geneviève Gratton, actrice; Jean-François Guilbault, metteur en scène, acteur, auteur; Johanne Haberlin, actrice; Jeffrey Hall, danseur, chorégraphe; Lorraine Hébert, recherchiste, rédactrice, animatrice en arts et en culture; Eda Holmes, artistic director; Xavier Huard, acteur, metteur en scène; Marie-Eve Huot, metteure en scène; James Hyndman, acteur; Eric Jean, metteur en scène; Dave Jenniss, auteur, metteur en scène, scénariste; Carmen Jolin, directrice artistique; Amanda Kellock, actor, director, writer; Émanuelle Kirouac-Sanche, assistante à la mise en scène; Angela Konrad, metteure en scène; Anick La Bissonnière, scénographe; Roger La Rue, acteur; Sophie Labelle, directrice artistique; Yves Labelle, concepteur vidéo; Maureen Labonté, traductrice; Martin Labrecque, concepteur d'éclairages; Émilie Laforest, musicienne, actrice; Catherine La Frenière, assistante à la mise en scène; Benoît Lagrandeur, acteur; Robert Lalonde, acteur, auteur; Philippe Lambert, metteur en scène; Marie-France Lambert, actrice; Benoit Landry, metteur en scène, acteur; Christian Lapointe, metteur en scène; Louise Laprade, actrice, metteure en scène; Justin Laramée, acteur, metteur en scène; Louise Latraverse, actrice, metteure en scène; Soleil Launière, artiste multidisciplinaire; David Laurin, acteur; Caroline Laurin-Beaucage, chorégraphe; Frédéric Lavallée, acteur; Denis Lavalou, acteur, auteur; Julie Le Breton, actrice; Pierre Lebeau, acteur; Louise Lecavalier, danseuse, chorégraphe; Dominique Leclerc, actrice, autrice; Annick Lefebvre, autrice; Paul Lefebvre, dramaturge; Michel-Maxime Legault, acteur, metteur en scène; Karl Lemieux, cinéaste, concepteur vidéo; Sylvie Léonard, actrice; Robert Lepage, metteur en scène, scénographe, auteur, acteur; Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, actrice; Daniel Léveillé, chorégraphe; Macha Limonchik, actrice; Pierre-Étienne Locas, scénographe; Stéphane Longpré, scénographe; Debbie Lynch-White, autrice, actrice; Sara Marchand, autrice, metteure en scène; Jean Marchand, acteur, musicien; Audrey Marchand, interprète, metteure en scène, dramaturge; Alexis Martin, acteur, auteur; Dany Michaud, acteur, metteur en scène; Monique Miller, actrice; Marie-Ève Milot, actrice, metteure en scène, autrice; Jérôme Minière, auteur, compositeur, interprète; Emilie Monnet, artiste multidisciplinaire; Pascale Montpetit, actrice; Francis Monty, auteur, acteur; Marie-Laurence Moreau, actrice; Michel Nadeau, acteur, metteur en scène; Gaétan Nadeau, acteur; Michel Nadeau, auteur, acteur, metteur en scène; Guy Nadon, acteur; Jane Needles, administrator, professor; Jérémie Niel, metteur en scène; Robert Normandeau, compositeur; Anne-Marie Olivier, actrice, autrice, metteure en scène; Olivia Palacci, actrice, metteure en scène; Édith Paquet, actrice; Solène Paré, metteure en scène; Marc Parent, concepteur d'éclairages; Leni Parker, actrice; Alice Pascual, actrice; Christiane Pasquier, actrice; Édith Patenaude, metteure en scène, actrice; Isabelle Payant, créatrice; Mike Payette, director; Luce Pelletier, metteure en scène; Mathieu Murphy-Perron, artistic director; Béatrice Picard, actrice; Étienne Pilon, acteur; Alexandre Pilon-Guay, concepteur d'éclairages; Lorraine Pintal, metteure en scène; Denis Plante, compositeur, auteur; Émile Proulx-Cloutier, acteur, auteur-compositeur; Dominique Quesnel, actrice; Philippe Racine, acteur, metteur en scène; Robert Reid, metteur en scène; Gilles Renaud, acteur; Sébastien Ricard, acteur, musicien; Évelyne Rompré, actrice; Caroline Ross, conceptrice d'éclairages; Lisa Rubin, director; Patricia Ruel, scénographe; Karine Sauvé, autrice, metteure en scène; Paul Savoie, acteur; Emmanuel Schwartz, acteur; Jeremy Segal, artistic director; Marc Senécal, concepteur de costumes, scénographe; Guy Simard, concepteur d'éclairages; Mani Soleymanlou, acteur, auteur, metteur en scène; Sonoyo Nishikawa, conceptrice d'éclairages; Annabel Soutar, autrice, dramaturge; Monique Spaziani, actrice; Guy Sprung, director, writer, actor; Alexandra Sutto, assistante à la mise en scène; Elkahna Talbi, artiste de spoken word, poétesse, actrice; Ines Talbi, autrice, compositrice-interprète; Audrey Talbot, actrice, autrice; Julie Tamiko Manning, multidisciplinary artist; Emma Tibaldo, director, playwright; Nancy Tobin, conceptrice design sonore; Michael Toppings, artistic director; Jean-Simon Traversy, metteur en scène; Michel Tremblay, auteur, romancier, scénariste; Guylaine Tremblay, actrice; Larry Tremblay, auteur, romancier; Louis-Karl Tremblay, metteur en scène; Érika Tremblay-Roy, autrice, metteure en scène; Anne Trudel, actrice; Louise Turcot, actrice; Lise Vaillancourt, autrice; Rahul Varma, director, playwright; Benoît Vermeulen, metteur en scène, acteur; Christian Vézina, auteur, interprète; Catherine Vidal , metteure en scène, actrice; Sonia Vigneault, actrice; Tatiana Zinga Botao, actrice.
